Commentary

In these verses, an event relating to Sayyidna Sulayman (علیہ السلام) has been mentioned. The gist of the well known Tafsir of this event is that Sayyidna Sulayman (علیہ السلام) was so engrossed in the inspection of the horses that he missed to perform the Salah of Al-` Asr at his usual time. Later, when he was alerted to this loss, he slaughtered all those horses as the unfortunate interference in the remembrance of Allah took place because of them.

This missed Salah could be a nafl salah. Given this situation, there should be no difficulty in understanding what Sulayman (علیہ السلام) did, for the noble prophets try to make amends for even this much of negligence. And it is also possible that the Salah concerned was obligatory (fard) and his engrossment in the inspection might have caused him to forget. Although if someone forgets to perform the fard (obligatory) Salah, it does not cause a sin to have been committed, but Sayyidna Sulayman (علیہ السلام) ، in view of his high station, expiated for that too.

This Tafsir of the cited verses has been reported from several leading authorities among the commentators. Even a great scholar of Ibn Kathir's stature has preferred this Tafsir. Then, it is also supported by a marfu' Hadith (attributed to the noble Prophet ﷺ) reported by 'Allamah Suyuti with reference to the Mu'jim of Tabarani, Ismaili and Ibn Marduwayh.

عن ابی کعب ؓ عن النّبی ﷺ فی قولہٖ فطفق مسحاً بالسّوق والاعناق قال قطع سوفھا و أعناقھا بالسیف

From 'Ubaiyy Ibn Ka'b , from the Holy Prophet ﷺ : About the word of Allah: (and he started passing his hands over the shanks and the necks.), he said: "Cut their legs and necks with the sword."

` Allamah Suyuti has declared its rating as Hasan. (ad-Durr-ul-Manthur, p. 309, v. 5) and quoting this Hadith in Majma'-uz-Zawa'id, ` Allamah Haithami says:

'Tabarani has reported this in al-Awsat. Said Ibn Bashir is one of the narrators there. He has been called trustworthy by Shu'bah and others. Ibn Ma'in and others call him weak. The rest of the men reporting are trustworthy.' (Majma'-uz-Zawa'id, p. 99, v. 7, Kitabu-t-Tafsir)

Because of this Hadith, this Tafsir becomes fairly strong. But, it generally lends to the doubt that the horses were a gift of Allah and wasting one's property in that manner does not seem to befit the station of a prophet. Commentators have answered it by saying that Sayyidna Sulayman (علیہ السلام) owned these horses, and the sacrifice of horses was also permissible in his code of law very similar to that of cows, goats and camels. Therefore, he never wasted the horses, in fact, sacrificed them in the name of Allah. Just as the act of sacrificing a cow or goat is not tantamount to wasting it, instead, it is an act of ` ibadah, the sacrifice of horses offered by him was nothing but an act of ` ibadah (Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani).

Most commentators have explained this verse in this very manner. But, there is another Tafsir of these verses reported from Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn ` Abbas ؓ where the description of the event differs. A gist of the Tafsir is that the horses presented before Sayyidna Sulayman (علیہ السلام) were specially prepared for Jihad. Sayyidna Sulayman (علیہ السلام) was pleased to see them while he also said that the attachment he had to those horses was not because he loved worldly life, rather it was because of his remembrance of Allah in that these were prepared for Jihad, and Jihad was an act of worship at its highest. In the meantime, that lineup of horses went out of his sight. He asked that they be brought back again. Accordingly, when they appeared before him once again, he started stroking and patting their necks and legs with affection.

According to this Tafsir, the word: عَن (an: from or because) in: عَن ذِكْرِ‌ رَ‌بِّي ) ’ an dhikri-rabbi: from or because of the remembrance of my Lord) is the 'an of cause' عَن سَببیّہ ( ‘an sababiyah), and the pronoun in: تَوَارَ‌تْ (tawarat: disappeared) is invariably reverting to horses, and: مَسحُ (mash) does not mean to cut, instead, it means to pass or wipe hands (over the body of the horses) with affection.

Classical commentators like Hafiz Ibn Jarir Tabari, Imam Razi and others have preferred this very Tafsir, because it is free from any possible doubt about property being wasted.

In terms of the words of the noble Qur'an, there is room for both explanations. But, since a marfu' Hadith has appeared in favor of the first Tafsir, a Hadith that is hasan (good) as regards its authority, therefore, it has become weightier and more acceptable.